LOSING TOM PECINKA
Ice Factory Festival - The New Ohio Theatre, July 2015
FEATURING: Christopher Geary, Tommy Heleringer, Zack Segel & Amir Wachterman
DESIGNS BY: Chris Barlow & Ryan Seelig
&
HERE Art Center, July 2012
FEATURING: Ronan Babbitt, Christopher Geary, Tom Pecinka & Amir Wachterman
DESIGNS BY: Chris Barlow & Ryan Seelig
Tom Pecinka, a promising young acting student dies in a tragic car wreck and his best friend, brother, and girlfriend try to make sense of the world without him. But between gay bashing, Tom's ghost, and a budding love affair destined to end in heartbreak, will these three friends ever be the same? Or will it all end with them singing Matchmaker from "Fiddler on the Roof?"
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING...
"...soap-opera silliness and beyond...clever writing throughout." - New York Times
“LOSING TOM PECINKA at HERE Arts Center…remains the most exciting new work I’ve seen all year. Morgan is a meticulous director—her sense of timing is absolutely perfect…I was at the edge of my seat for every second of all three showings, delighting in each minutely calibrated detail. Morgan is what Robert Wilson would be if Robert Wilson were a goofball. As a writer, Morgan has a unique, strong, sometimes controversial voice that fits perfectly with her fun and playful directorial vision.” -Young Jean Lee, two-time OBIE award winning playwright
JANICE: Ryan, there’s nothing you could have done.
RYAN: I know. And that haunts me every. Single. Day.
JANICE: It will get better. It has to get—
(KAI comes in and JANICE stops mid sentence. She stands, awkwardly.)
KAI: What the FUCK is she doing here?
JANICE: Hi…Kai.
RYAN: Kai—stop that’s so/
KAI: Why did you/ bring her here? To my house.
JANICE: Ryan, I should/ go
KAI: How dare you/ come here?
RYAN: KAI! Enough/
KAI: HOW DARE YOU. HOW DARE YOU GRIEVE HIM? HOW DARE YOU STAND THERE AND ACT LIKE YOU GAVE A FLYING SHIT ABOUT TOM?
RYAN: Of course she cared/ about
KAI: YOU’RE A SELFISH BITCH. YOU BROKE HIS HEART AND YOU LEFT HIM. YOU’RE THE REASON WE EVEN WENT ON THAT FUCKING TRIP. HE ONLY WENT TO TRY AND FORGET ABOUT YOU--
RYAN: KAI!! Shut/
KAI: YOU’RE WHY HE’S DEAD. HE’D STILL BE HERE IF YOU—
JANICE: NO. No, no, no. HE’D STILL BE HERE IF YOU HADN’T TAKEN HIM OFF ON ONE OF YOU STUPID GUY TRIPS. YOU WERE THE ONE IN THE CAR THAT NIGHT, KAI. NOT ME. YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED HIM. AND YOU DIDN’T AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN SAY THAT WILL CHANGE THAT. SO DON’T TRY TO TAKE IT OUT ON ME, BECAUSE WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, YOU PULLED THE GODDAMN TRIGGER.
KAI: YOU FUCKING BITCH (KAI lunges at her, RYAN intervenes)
RYAN: STOP! Kai! No!
JANICE: I CAN’T DO THIS. ICANTICANTICANT (JANICE gathers her things, tears rolling down her face). Ryan, thank you for the box, it means more to mean that you can understand.
Kai, I’m…I’m sorry. I hope someday you’ll stop punishing me. That we’ll stop punishing each other.
Both of you have a great fucking life. Goodbye.
(JANICE storms out)
RYAN: Great job, Kai. Really great.
(A long silence)
KAI: (Seriously) Do you really expect me to pity her, Ryan?
RYAN: Oh come on, Kai, don’t be a dick. We know she loved him. They loved each other.
KAI: Well, I loved him too. And no one is comforting me. No one is telling me it’s all going to be ok.
RYAN: Is that what you want me to do? FINE. Fucking fine, Kai. It’s all gonna be okay. Tom is going to walk through that door any second. He’ll come back in with his hummus and pretzels and everything will go right back to FUCKING normal, okay? OKAY? (Ryan slams himself down on the couch, head in his hands)
(silence)
KAI: I’m sorry, Ryan. I didn’t mean to make it about me.
RYAN: Well, you just did.
